


Rouge of Heart's mission

by aestheticArachnophobe



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: F/M, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Multi, Past Character Death, Romance, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-15
Updated: 2013-09-23
Packaged: 2017-12-26 15:47:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/967761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aestheticArachnophobe/pseuds/aestheticArachnophobe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nepeta has had her share of hardship in her life, but none of that matters when she's in the presence of her crush, Karkat Vantas. A note signed with a heart may be old fashioned, but will it do the trick?</p>
<p>human!stuck AU with a general high school setting. The grades are split up like this: Freshman are Beta humans (John, Rose Dave and Jade); Sophomore are Beta trolls; Juniors are Alpha humans (Jake/Roxy/Dirk/Jane); Seniors are Alpha trolls.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome! This is my first Homestuck fanfiction, so I apologize in advance for any derping. 
> 
> So the inspiration to this was a combination of things. First off, my Skype friends. Before them, I didn't really consider KatNep to be functional really, since Karkat seemed to just want to be friends with her, and I traditionally honor the canon relationships and character opinions. 
> 
> That's most of it actually, also I haven't written a story in a while and figured "Why not?". Maybe I'll find out from flame reviews, who knows. Hope not, lol.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy this. In this AU, the ancestors with the titles instead of names are separate from the alpha trolls. *spoiler?* Yes, I know they grow up to be them, but this is an AU, which stands for alternate universe, in which they're different. c:
> 
> Also, I took some of the story of Darkler and The Disciple [ Mr. Zahhak and Miss Leijon ] from stories my parents have told me. My dad almost died when he was 5 from eating a quarter with a tick on it that happened to have the Rocky Mountain Spotted fever in it's system, so that's where that came from. I researched it briefly while typing this, no intention to offend anyone who has had it before.
> 
> Again, hope you enjoy it, I'll upload another chapter if I get some decent feedback (no need to upload more if it's silly/dumb, right?). Also shout out to my moirail who was pretty much my beta reader, he is da best.  
> ~~* End Author's Note *~~

No one has an easy life. That young lady who smiles at everyone is truly dead inside. That boy who appears laidback and friendly trained himself to be that way to fight his demons.  
  
           There’s different ways to handle this. Some get angry when they’re upset and yell at everyone, some get skittish and turn to to a fantasy world to escape what hurts them. For Nepeta Leijon, the best way is to daydream about a future in which she marries the person who fits her heart best.

 

In reality, her life could be worse. She is the second youngest of four, born to two loving parents. Her older brother and sister share half of her genes, Horuss’s mother passed away shortly after birth, and Meulin’s father abandoned as soon as he heard of the pregnancy.  Multiple years after Meulin was born, Miss Leijon was given a job at a family-run business, the ‘Neighborhood Bakery’. Before the pregnancy she’d been an in-home caretaker for one of the elders of the family, they practically considered her part of them.  While working there, she befriended, fell in love with, and married the youngest man, making her Mrs. Zahhak.

The wedding was small and sweet, and the newlyweds would later tell their children, Nepeta and Equius, how each word was filled with love and how they could ‘stare into her bright green eyes/ his deep blue eyes forever’. A few years later Nepeta was born, followed in two years by Equius. It was a seemingly perfect life. However, we know those don’t happen.

Not very long ago from this day, the former Miss Leijon passed away. During a winter’s skiing  vacation in Colorado, she was bit by a tick that was contaminated with the Rocky Mountain Spotted fever. The symptoms were initially ignored, the fatigue being attributed to the excitement and the high body temperature seemed to be her body’s natural reaction to cold. When the symptoms persisted after the return home, they scheduled a doctor’s appointment but it was too late. Her body had weakened drastically, and the return to their warm-weather home ended in her death.

The heartbroken widower had difficulty handling the loss, shutting himself in the house all day. At first he cleaned, then he started repairing parts of the house that needed it, and less than two months later he began work on his first mechanical creation, a movable arm. Within the next year he became so advanced that he made a full-bodied humanoid robot. He tinkered with it and built simple programs for it, the first being capability to understand basic English, the last being the blueprints to create another robot. Soon he had several and went on to start a company.

 

**Enough about him, though.** This day begins with the happy yawn of Nepeta, who just woke up from a pleasant dream about the first person she thinks about when reading love poems or drawing couples. He is one of her favourite people to smile at, though it is often not returned, and one of the last people she would ever want to hurt in any way.

Nepeta’s dream was innocent, sweet, and starred Karkat Vantas, her crush.

  
  
{{ Note: She uses the last name of Leijon in memory of her mother }}


	2. Chapter one: Cause

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the sad beginning, happy cute fluff from now on, yes?  
> ~~* End Author's Note *~~

I stretched my arms as high over my head as they would reach and squeezed out the last yawn. ‘Simply purrfect’, I thought, ‘the feeling of stretching after a great night’s sleep and greater dreams~’. I could still see it when I closed my eyes, though faintly. The park I’d passed by I-don’t-know-how-many times, with the swings I’ve laughed and cried on. This was all happy though, the memories of sadness fading away. That always happens when I’m close to him. I remember our hands connecting between the swings, his was so warm and I am sure he could feel me shaking from nervousness. In fact, I know he did because he turned to me, a rare smile on his face.

“Hey, it’s okay. I know we don’t do this often, but no need to freak out, right?”. He sounded so calm and loving, which was a little odd but I didn’t care. I smiled back and nodded, leaning closer to him to rest my head on one of the thurible* of my swing closest to him. I closed my eyes and sighed, taking in the fresh grassy smell of the park. [note: the thurible is the metal chain or rope portion of the swing, the part that does the swinging.]

I felt him shift closer but didn’t open my eyes until I felt his breath on my face. He was looking intently at my lips while pressing his together, almost as a nervous tic. He looked up to my eyes and asked “Is it.. Is it okay if I.. Well...”   
My reply was meant to be a kiss, but I woke while moving my face to his. ‘Oh well, I should have known it wasn’t real, I don’t remember the last time I saw him that happy.’ Either way, the warm feeling stayed in my chest through breakfast and the ride to school. It didn’t really fade away until I sat down in my math class, knowing he would be here soon. I had a plan, and in order for it to work I had to be a bit of a ninja.

A couple days ago, I offered to stay behind and clean up the classroom after we celebrated a birthday. My teacher said that he’d normally say no, but he had a meeting to attend and ‘those cupcake wrappers aren’t going to clean themselves’. After cleaning up quickly, I checked the assignment calendar for today’s assignment. Page 264. The number was instantly memorized and I put the book away, careful to place it right where it was. Today was the day we had the assignment, and today is the day I confess.

The note I wrote my confession on was resting in a light grey envelope with ‘Karkitty’ written in cursive. I resisted the temptation to doodle us together on it, though I did add a heart as the dot for the i. Thankfully I arrived before he did, so I stuck the envelope in his textbook between page 264 and 265. I’m the best ninja when it comes to matters of the heart.

I sat quietly, trying to keep my heartbeat steady and my expression neutral. That failed when he walked in. I smiled and greeted him but could barely hear him over my intensely beating heart.

“Did you get the homework done? It was page 257 or something. Ugh, hopefully the next chapter is a bit more interesting. Oh wait, what am I saying? This is moron’s math, it’s just going to get more repetitive, shoot me now.” His usual ‘this sucks’ rant would normally make her a bit sad that he has to deal with it, but today she welcomed the normal behavior.

“Yeah, it was a pain. I’m sure it’ll get better though! At least... More interesting, yes.”


	3. Chapter two: Shift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! My classes assigned a shizton of homework (college classes are easier and more difficult than high school at the same time, how? Magic.) so I haven't been online long enough to type this up. Anyhoo, since this chapter's PoV is Karkat, who is /not/ the main character, it's in 3rd person perspective. I'm sorry if that's confusing! D:
> 
> Thank you for reading, hope you're having a good day/night! 
> 
> {{ Just saying, to the line that Nepeta says in the miiiild flashback, she ships AraSol and EriFef.}}
> 
> ~End Author's Note~

At her words, Karkat raised an eyebrow. “You seem more happy today, which is odd because you always seem happy, I never see a frown on your face, so I guess that’s reasonable, but still”- _‘Shut up idiot, you’re rambling, she’s probably just humoring you so you don’t look like so much of a lonely sap’_ -”, is something up?”. The fact that Nepeta seemed to always have that curvy, almost feline smile on her face was one of the things Karkat liked about her. He liked a lot of things, her smile, her looks in general, her compassion for people upset. He’d once witnessed her consoling Eridan Ampora, giving him a hug and listening to his tearful tale of how the lovely Aradia Megido turned him down for the ‘asshole nerd, wannabe Bill Gates’ Sollux Captor.

She wasn’t a pushover, though. Not by any means. When Ampora tried to make the hug a little more intimate, she held him at an arm’s length away. Later on, when he snapped at her for spilling coffee on his scarf (only a few drops), she leaned in close and told him “This is why Aradia turned you down.”. When he walked away, she murmured something like “That face when I sunk your ship because mine is better” and started drawing in a notebook.

Karkat wondered what was inside that notebook. It looked old, with the card suit symbol pattern fading towards the edges. She’s carried it around for almost as long as Karkat knew her, or at least since 7th grade. Whenever he came near it, she hissed(yes, literally) and stashed it in her coat or shirt. She was a mystery, and Karkat wished he knew her better.

Realizing he’d tuned out her reply, Karkat nodded and shrugged. “Well good! I hope the rest of your day goes well, then.” He sat quickly, opening his book to avoid her reaction. There was a small lump between 264 and 265. ‘Sweet, maybe someone left their homework, I can copy it and have more free time’. He pulled out the note, realizing immediately by the handwriting that instead of old homework, this was more personal. Being a (secret) fan of romantic movies and novels, Karkat recognized this move and smiled. _‘That has to be the sweetest way to admit affections, I wonder who the poor dipshit is who missed their chance on love this time?'_. He unfolded the paper and nearly choked on air.

_‘I’m the dipshit.’_

Fighting to keep the bloodrush under control, Karkat leaned in close to read the note, using his arms to shield from potential nosy outsiders.

“Dear Karkitty!” Oh, how he hated that nickname. Well, when anyone other than Nepeta used it. He could hear her saying it in his head, and continued reading with her voice playing in his mind. “ Well, this is pawviously not a normal note, at least I hope you can tell from my handwriting. I’ve wanted to tell you furr a while now, I like you! Your frowns, your scowls, those smiles you don’t think anyone sees, your pokey hair, the way you can handle anything life throws at you, just you. I really like you. I guess it’s okay if you don’t like me too. It would be purretty awkward, but I can deal with it. Either way, please let me know how you feel soon." It was signed with a flourished N and an arrow pointing to where she sat. Karkat looked over to her, noting the way she held her body and head forward but her eyes kept darting over to him and away when she realized he noticed. Karkat refolded the letter carefully, slipping it into his pants pocket. He tried to focus on the class, but felt his mind returning to the note and the girl sitting 3 feet away from him.

He was torn. Yes, he liked her back. Yes, he wanted to tell her. Hell, he considered waiting until the teacher was turned to the blackboard, grabbing her gently by the shoulders, and kissing her for an answer. He was afraid, though. What if he messed up? It all looked so easy in the movies, seemed so simple in the novels, yet here he was, single.  If life really worked like it did in romance movies and novels, he would be older, work on a farm somewhere, she would be a young lady from Ireland who’d come to America because her family’s farm was failing so her parents sent her to live with her uncle in America, and she had some interest in a young stable master at first but he’d come in and sweep her off her feet, and she’d tell him she loved him for the first time as they kissed passionately, about to-

Woah there. Well, he was worried that he couldn’t pull off being romantic. All he’d ever been was kind to people who he felt deserved it, and indifferent or impudent to others. He’d need time to perfect this, but she was waiting on him for an answer. Damn, he wished he prepared for this last night instead of half-assing his math homework.

 _‘Oh well, not like I’m going to pay attention to this lesson anyways,’_ he thought, starting to write out what to say for his answer, _‘might as well write my heart out for once.’_


End file.
